Winchester and Sidney
by jediknigh5
Summary: Sometime after Winchester returns to Boston, he's still haunted by memories of the war. An old friend stops by to make sure he's okay, and ends up helping him out.


Doctor Winchester sat in his office, reading a medical journal. Being chief of herasic surgery at Boston Mercy Hospital had been Winchester's dream job, and required him to keep up with all the latest medical progress. But he had proven himself up to the challenge, devoting himself completely to the saving of lives. One day, an old friend showed up. Winchester rarely spoke with those he'd met during his forced service in a M.A.S.H unit in Korea. It wasn't neccessarily that he was rude, it was simply that he preferred to remember as little as possible from that horrible experience. But some things couldn't be avoided. Sidney Friedman was a psychiatrist who sometimes lended a hand in Korea, now he was delivering a lecture at Boston Mercy, Winchester hoped to avoid him. But, somehow, Sidney discovered that dr Winchester worked here, and went to see his old friend.

.

Sidney: It's good to see you again major.

Winchester: Actually, I prefer just "Doctor" here.

Sidney: Sorry, force of habit. How have you been?

Winchester: Busy. This is a prestigious job, and requires most of my attention.

Sidney: So I see. Your sister said you work constantly, that you never leave your home except to come here.

Winchester: That's not true, I attend medical lectures, I go to the library to read medical books. Wait, you're talking to my sister?

Sidney: She's a little worried, heard I was in town. She knows we knew each other in Korea, asked for my help.

Winchester: I can't pretend I'm the same person I was before I left. Noone could go through that and not be changed.

Sidney: I agree. Some never really recover, I'm hoping you do.

Winchester: With all due respect, but maybe I shouldn't be treated by anyone I knew in Korea.

Sidney: Fair point. I can give you the name of qualified psychiatrists, if you promise to talk with them.

Winchester: I'd prefer to forget it all, but I can't. Did my sister tell you I used to love music, but can't listen to it without that reminder?

Sidney: She mentioned it. I don't remember, why exactly did music become a reminder?

Winchester: At the end of the war a lot of soldiers were surrendering. In particular five chinese soldiers. I guess they decided that they'd already done their part, why risk their lives any further with the end in sight? Especially these five, they weren't realy soldiers, just musicians, sent to entertain their soldiers. They spoke almost no english, but when they heard me mention Mozart, that word they understood. I actually bonded with them over music. The american soldiers guarding them allowed this because, well whatever kept them from escaping or sabotage was fine. Anyway, after the truce was signed, all the P.O.W.s were taken for the big prisoner exchange. Unfortunately the actual boundries were set for, wherever the two armies were physically standing when it became official in twelve hours. So, naturally, both sides decided to keep fighting until the last minute, trying to gain a few more measely inches. As you remember this made more work for us. I was told to look at a wounded P.O.W., but he was already dead. To my horror I realized it was one of the five chinese musicians I had bonded with. I asked what happenned to the other P.O.W.s who'd been taken, and he told me that this one was the only one who'd made it this far. They weren't even soldiers, they were musicians. I know that many other innocents died in that war, children, the elderly, pregnant women. And let's not forget how both sides came to villages in trucks, threw men inside at gunpoint, and forced them to kill others. So why do these five deaths mean so much to me?

Sidney: Because they were your friends. Doctor, when a doctor sees as much death and destruction as you did, it's impossible to say what will hit them particularly hard. But everyone has a breaking point. I want you to help yourself. I won't be offended if you don't want to be treated by me, but I hope you do get some help.

Winchester: Perhaps you're right. Can I have the names of those other psychiatrists?

Sidney: Ofcourse. And I'll still count this whole thin as doctor-patient priviledge.

Winchester: Thank you. I am a good doctor. I may be hard as chief of therasic surgery but I do help save lives.

Sidney: I know. And if you help yourself right now, you can continue saving lives.

Winchester: Thank you Sidney, I needed that.


End file.
